Game of the Month: March

Sorry, folks. Really, quite sorry. I've been slacking off something terrible lately when it comes to this blog, and, to be completely honest, April isn't looking much better. Two major releases in the coming month, Super Paper Mario and Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, are most likely going to consume most of my gaming time, leaving little for the playing and subsequent reviewing of VC titles. Sorry!

Now that the whiny and hopelessly inadequate excuses are out of the way, I suppose I should explain the primary purpose of this post. On something of a whim, I've decided to add a "Game of the Month" feature to my blog, in which I'll weed through all of my gaming experiences over the course of the preceding month and pick the game I find most worthy of that title. Assuming I remember/am not too lazy to, anyway.
Unlike my annual "Top Five", the choices are not limited to games that were released in the time period mentioned. They can include VC games, or ones on current or last-gen systems that have simply been out for a while. Anything's fair game, so long as I played through a substantial portion of it in the correct month.

Moving on, my Game of the Month for March is:





OKAMI

I played some pretty great games this month, but as the now-defunct Clover Studio's Magnum Opus, Okami was something of a no-brainer. In addition to being perhaps the most visually artistic game ever made, it is one of the finest Adventure/RPGs I've ever played. The world is massive and engaging, the story and dialogue always deliver, and the boss battles are simply amazing. Not quite Zelda quality overall, but it comes closer than almost any other I've seen, and that is quite a feat.

References to Japanese culture are everywhere. You play as the lupine reincarnation of the Shinto sun goddess, Amaterasu, and the names and (sometimes) behaviors of many of the side characters are modeled after those from other famous Japanese tales. And that's not all; everything from the architecture to the clothing is based on the Land of the Rising Sun, making for one of the most culturally enticing games in recent history. And it'd be ridiculous of me not to mention the Celestial Brush. It's a calligraphy brush that can be used at any time, by drawing certain simple patterns, to alter in some ways the world around you, attack enemies, and perform many incredible tricks. PS2 owners be notified: this one's a must.

-Smashing Brother